@ted_200wrote:
@my-cottage-books-and-antiqueswrote:
No. GD will have NO impact on the search order in regular search (see my response to Ted). The impact it has on search visibility is the simple and, certainly for some sellers, profitable fact that only applicable GD listings will show in the GD filter, which will reduce the competition and thus enhance visibility for those listings that are within the filter compared to those not in the filter. So, for example, if I were competing with overseas sellers, I'd definitely want to be in GD because items must ship from a US zip/warehouse to show up in GD. So, many of my competitors would be excluded.So, you're saying the relevancy algorithm... that considers things like TRS, "Fast & Free", 30 Day Free Returns, etc.... is NOT going to consider GD? GD is ONLY a filter, and the ONLY increased visibility comes from people using that filter?
I find that hard to believe... but eBay isn't nearly that clear on what is in, or not in, the "relevancy" algorithm...
Yes, That is eBay's current narrative this month. But, once they get enough sellers into the GD pool and participating look for eBay Mission Creep to insue, shortly thereafter.
Plus they have already laid this ol chesnut easter egg into the terms and conditions.
Updates and Discontinuation
eBay has the right to alter, amend, replace, suspend temporarily, and/or discontinue permanently, this feature and/or any feature functionality at any time without notice to you. 
These Terms may be amended from time to time and will remain in effect so long as you continue to use this feature.
Thank you for selling on eBay.
@go-bad-chickenwrote:
@tweetystwadeswrote:
@sockmonkeydavewrote:
@campesinoplastic2014wrote:I have no choice but to ponder those numerous instances where sellers post here that they ship well withing their handling time, get a scan, but for some reason Ebay has "info" showing them as "late shippers" and cannot get it fixed. I wonder how well they will do.....
Well, because it does happen.
A few years back my shipping % went down from 100% to 98%
I ran the report, and this is what it said:
Label printed on time... yes
Inital PO scan.... blank
A couple other fields... blank.
Delivery scan... blank
Two packages shipped the same day, both with no scans.
I pull out my USPS receipt, and call ebay.
1st CS says, we can fix that... well I can't fix that let me transfer you.
6 more CS said the exact lame line, but then they were going to get a supervisor.
While on hold, my call was dropped.
So yes, Guaranteed Delivery looks good... ON PAPER.
My guy at the PO, his wife does ebay full time.
I ask him what he thought about it, he just laughed.
ebay is making promises that USPS, UPS and fedx, do not make.
Guaranteed delivery, "free returns", And on, and on, and on.
All to the benefit of ebay's "customers" the buyers.
I just see all this costing the seller. They want "free returns", "GD" which I believe is priority mail.
Why not just make it mandatory to ship priority, and forget about this GD. That's what it boils down to anyway. I ship first class, priority is too much and cuts into my profit for the items I sell. It's also going to cost me listing visibility if I don't do it. Tired of being choked
USPS First Class is a service that qualifies for the GD program.
While I am still on the fence about the whole GD program, and still have many concerns. My immediate feelings and opinion right now is that the program will end up having a negative effect overall in the long run, on eBay, the marketplace, and its sellers, But this is the Devil's sandbox, the Devil calls the shots in this box and on this playground, and now the Devil has decided that he/she wants to play a new game. Since I have continued to choose the Devil as one of my playmates, I am going to play along for awhile, and try to survive this game without getting burned, or at least to badly.
So, I have considered going along with this insanity, at least in the short term. My tentative plan is to stick my toe in the water for the first few months and use my items that ship USPS First Class mail as my test subjects.
Thank you for posting the list of eligible carrier services I can list for Guaranteed Delivery.
USPS Media Mail takes about a month to get to/from Zone 8.
@generaluser3wrote:
@go-bad-chickenwrote:
@tweetystwadeswrote:
@sockmonkeydavewrote:
@campesinoplastic2014wrote:I have no choice but to ponder those numerous instances where sellers post here that they ship well withing their handling time, get a scan, but for some reason Ebay has "info" showing them as "late shippers" and cannot get it fixed. I wonder how well they will do.....
Well, because it does happen.
A few years back my shipping % went down from 100% to 98%
I ran the report, and this is what it said:
Label printed on time... yes
Inital PO scan.... blank
A couple other fields... blank.
Delivery scan... blank
Two packages shipped the same day, both with no scans.
I pull out my USPS receipt, and call ebay.
1st CS says, we can fix that... well I can't fix that let me transfer you.
6 more CS said the exact lame line, but then they were going to get a supervisor.
While on hold, my call was dropped.
So yes, Guaranteed Delivery looks good... ON PAPER.
My guy at the PO, his wife does ebay full time.
I ask him what he thought about it, he just laughed.
ebay is making promises that USPS, UPS and fedx, do not make.
Guaranteed delivery, "free returns", And on, and on, and on.
All to the benefit of ebay's "customers" the buyers.
I just see all this costing the seller. They want "free returns", "GD" which I believe is priority mail.
Why not just make it mandatory to ship priority, and forget about this GD. That's what it boils down to anyway. I ship first class, priority is too much and cuts into my profit for the items I sell. It's also going to cost me listing visibility if I don't do it. Tired of being choked
USPS First Class is a service that qualifies for the GD program.
While I am still on the fence about the whole GD program, and still have many concerns. My immediate feelings and opinion right now is that the program will end up having a negative effect overall in the long run, on eBay, the marketplace, and its sellers, But this is the Devil's sandbox, the Devil calls the shots in this box and on this playground, and now the Devil has decided that he/she wants to play a new game. Since I have continued to choose the Devil as one of my playmates, I am going to play along for awhile, and try to survive this game without getting burned, or at least to badly.
So, I have considered going along with this insanity, at least in the short term. My tentative plan is to stick my toe in the water for the first few months and use my items that ship USPS First Class mail as my test subjects.
Thank you for posting the list of eligible carrier services I can list for Guaranteed Delivery.
USPS Media Mail takes about a month to get to/from Zone 8.
No problem. I primarily sell books with this account, and USPS Media Mail is also my 1st listed shipping service offered on 90% of my listings.
This is just my opinion at this time but, I believe taht you do not need to worry about Zone 8 buyers buying your items and selecting Media Mail as their shipping service, those buyers will never see your Media Mail listings when they use the 3 Day GD toggle/filter, unless you offer multiple shipping services. I offer 3 or 4 different shipping services, in which case Zone 8 buyers will see the listings that offer a shipping service or services that eBay believes can get that package to them in 3 Days or less. And of course those 3 Days include your handling time.
i.e. on 90% of my listings which are books, I offer
USPS Media Mail
USPS 1st Class Mail - for items less than 1 lb.
USPS Priority Mail
USPS Priority Mail Express
Zone 8 buyers are probably only going to see my listing due to the USPS Priority Mail EXPRESS service that I offer. The problem with that little ditty is what buyer is going to select the listing that has a $35.00 to $55.00 shipping cost vs say the other listings for the same book offered by another seller who is much closer to them than I am and can get that book to them using just USPS Priority for $7 to $12.
I list Express just so that buyers have some options, and their back is up against the wall because they waited way to long to buy that special someone in their life a gift for whatever upcoming occasion that at least that option is available to them. But it does not come cheap. Over the past 5 years I would say that I get 3 to 4 EXPRESS orders each year; on average. So EXPRESS is pretty much a red herring for shipping services with the GD program as far as I am concerned.
USPS Media Mail will probably only come into play for some of those outlier cases and will only be shown or come into play less than 5% of the time. But this is just speculation at this time on my part.
Plus they have already laid this ol chesnut easter egg into the terms and conditions.
Updates and Discontinuation
eBay has the right to alter, amend, replace, suspend temporarily, and/or discontinue permanently, this feature and/or any feature functionality at any time without notice to you. 
These Terms may be amended from time to time and will remain in effect so long as you continue to use this feature.
Thank you for selling on eBay.
Yeah, that's kinda the reason for the "... do you really trust these people?" posts like the one ^^^ upthread.
@rolenboy01wrote:It sounds like another thing that buyers are going to EXPECT and get angry when it doesn't pan out, I certainly don't want to sign up for increased expectations.
Particularly any that I have absolutely no control over meeting! "We'll take responsibility for it... We'll protect you...". Meh. That's nice, but it's not really the point.
Anyhow, I can't. It has a tracking upload requirement of 95%, and my tracking upload is below 70%. Which is sort of funny, since I have 0.74% Late Delivery rate(according to my Seller Dashboard - and both "late" are bogus of course, those labels were printed within my handling time, but the P.O. failed on meeting eBay's Delivery Estimate, which they never guaranteed to do), and virtually every item I ship would indeed meet the GD. I guess they'll have more success by letting in people using Media Mail and Ground instead... 
@ted_200wrote:Plus they have already laid this ol chesnut easter egg into the terms and conditions.
Updates and Discontinuation
These Terms may be amended from time to time and will remain in effect so long as you continue to use this feature.
Yeah, that's kinda the reason for the "... do you really trust these people?" posts like the one ^^^ upthread.
Oh, heeeeeeeeck no! In the end this GD is going to go sideways, and the majority of that burden will be falling onto the backs of the sellers. But with that said, on this account as well as another account I do not believe that I can afford to ignore it or its implications completely either. So for now I will stick my toes into the water and tentatively go along but on a very limited and controlled basis. I will be keeping track of the results and the moment that it looks like these accounts are going to be damaged due to this cockamamie scheme I will be pulling out.
I have another account that sells nothing but larger heavier items. Almost everything sold though that account ships either USPS Parcel Select Ground or USPS Priority if the buyer feels like paying almost double in most cases. But that account's market is one of those that falls into "those buyers are never in a rush to receive their purchases and they are always happy when the package arrives", so I do not feel the pressure to enroll in the GD with that one. Furthermore about 60% of all of the orders shipped through that account since January, have been late, and for many of them not just a little late either. More like 5 to 10 days late.
USPS Parcel Select Ground is 1) cheap, 2) slower than a sloth, and 3) predictable (It's going to arrive late.)
